BRUSSELS: The European Commission urged the 27 EU members on Wednesday to take a more forceful and coordinated approach toward monkeypox now that the World Health Organization has declared it a global health emergency.
In a letter to national health ministers, seen by Reuters, European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides noted that the European Union was the epicenter of detected cases and that the bloc needed to work together to control the outbreak.
Kyriakides urged the ministers to increase surveillance and reporting of cases, contact tracing and isolation, vaccinations and clear communication on the risks.
Monkeypox is a virus than typically causes mild symptoms including fever, aches and pus-filled skin lesions, with recovery after two to four weeks.
First identified in monkeys, it is transmitted chiefly through close contact, and is typically endemic to Africa.
After initial reports of European cases in May, cases have since ballooned to more than 16,000 in 75 countries. Five deaths, all in Africa, have been reported so far.
Kyriakides stressed that EU members should report national case data to the European Surveillance System, updating information as more complete data becomes available.
Countries should also set up clear guidelines on contact tracing and isolation in line with recommendations from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
The EU has acquired 160,000 doses of vaccines from Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic. Kyriakides urged EU countries that have not signed the relevant contract to do so as soon as possible to ensure deliveries.
Finally, EU members should intensify communication efforts, raising awareness without causing panic. She added that current cases were concentrated among gay men and that they should not be “targeted, victimized or marginalized because of the outbreak.”
Kyriakides concluded by saying she was confident that the EU had the tools in place to tackle the monkeypox threat.
EU urges intensified effort to combat monkeypox
https://arab.news/j72r7
EU urges intensified effort to combat monkeypox
- European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides noted that the European Union was the epicentre of detected cases
- Kyriakides urged the ministers to increase surveillance and reporting of cases
Italian police fire tear gas as protesters clash near Winter Olympics hockey venue
- Police vans behind a temporary metal fence secured the road to the athletes’ village, but the protest veered away, continuing on a trajectory toward the Santagiulia venue
MILAN: Italian police fired tear gas and a water cannon at dozens of protesters who threw firecrackers and tried to access a highway near a Winter Olympics venue on Saturday.
The brief confrontation came at the end of a peaceful march by thousands against the environmental impact of the Games and the presence of US agents in Italy.
Police held off the violent demonstrators, who appeared to be trying to reach the Santagiulia Olympic ice hockey rink, after the skirmish. By then, the larger peaceful protest, including families with small children and students, had dispersed.
Earlier, a group of masked protesters had set off smoke bombs and firecrackers on a bridge overlooking a construction site about 800 meters (a half-mile) from the Olympic Village that’s housing around 1,500 athletes.
Police vans behind a temporary metal fence secured the road to the athletes’ village, but the protest veered away, continuing on a trajectory toward the Santagiulia venue. A heavy police presence guarded the entire route.
There was no indication that the protest and resulting road closure interfered with athletes’ transfers to their events, all on the outskirts of Milan.
The demonstration coincided with US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Milan as head of the American delegation that attended the opening ceremony on Friday.
He and his family visited Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” closer to the city center, far from the protest, which also was against the deployment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to provide security to the US delegation.
US Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. The ICE arm at the forefront of the immigration crackdown in the US is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication its officers are being sent to Italy.
At the larger, peaceful demonstration, which police said numbered 10,000, people carried cardboard cutouts to represent trees felled to build the new bobsled run in Cortina. A group of dancers performed to beating drums. Music blasted from a truck leading the march, one a profanity-laced anti-ICE anthem.
“Let’s take back the cities and free the mountains,” read a banner by a group calling itself the Unsustainable Olympic Committee. Another group called the Association of Proletariat Excursionists organized the cutout trees.
“They bypassed the laws that usually are needed for major infrastructure project, citing urgency for the Games,” said protester Guido Maffioli, who expressed concern that the private entity organizing the Games would eventually pass on debt to Italian taxpayers.
Homemade signs read “Get out of the Games: Genocide States, Fascist Police and Polluting Sponsors,” the final one a reference to fossil fuel companies that are sponsors of the Games. One woman carried an artificial tree on her back decorated with the sign: “Infernal Olympics.”
The demonstration followed another last week when hundreds protested the deployment of ICE agents.
Like last week, demonstrators Saturday said they were opposed to ICE agents’ presence, despite official statements that a small number of agents from an investigative arm would be present in US diplomatic territory, and not operational on the streets.
